Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Wyoming / Grand Teton

Teton Crest Trail (Granite Canyon or the tram to String Lake)

Grand Teton National Park, Jedediah Smith Wilderness (Caribou-Targhee National Forest) and Bridger-Teton National Forest (Teton Pass, Granite Canyon or Teton Village to String Lake)

The Teton Crest Trail runs along the spine of the Teton Range, mostly above 8,000 feet, crossing a string of passes between the Jackson Hole valley and Idaho’s Teton Valley. The National Park Service describes it as a 39-mile point-to-point route from Phillips Pass, outside the park, to String Lake, with more than 9,000 feet of elevation gain, “best enjoyed over multiple days.”

It weaves in and out of the national park. The NPS notes the trail crosses into Bridger-Teton National Forest at Teton Pass and into the Caribou-Targhee National Forest at Fox Creek Pass and Alaska Basin, where different rules apply.

The hike

There are several ways to start. The full trail begins near Teton Pass on Wyoming Highway 22. Many hikers instead ride the aerial tram at Teton Village, which the NPS says saves about 4 miles and 2,400 feet of climbing, or start at the Granite Canyon Trailhead, the version Hiking Project describes at 39 miles.

From Granite Canyon, Hiking Project’s route climbs past the South Fork Granite Canyon and Open Canyon junctions to Marion Lake, an alpine lake where many hikers spend the first night. It then crosses an open plain below Housetop Mountain and passes Spearhead Peak to Fox Creek Pass and the start of the Death Canyon Shelf, a long, exposed bench above Death Canyon. Backpacker’s Michael Lanza wrote that “the perch on Death Canyon Shelf will make you want to homestead right there.”

Past Mount Meek Pass (9,718 feet), the trail drops down the Sheep Steps into Alaska Basin on Caribou-Targhee land, fords the South Fork of Teton Creek, and climbs past Sunset Lake to Hurricane Pass. Hiking Project says the trail “drops like a stone” from the pass on the Alaska Basin side. North of Hurricane Pass, Schoolroom Glacier comes into view, with moraines and a small lake below it, before the trail descends into the South Fork of Cascade Canyon.

At the Cascade Canyon junction the route turns up the North Fork to Lake Solitude, then climbs to Paintbrush Divide. The NPS gives the summit as 10,700 feet, the highest point on the trail; in 2022 the park and the Grand Teton National Park Foundation rebuilt parts of its eastern scree slope after meltwater and foot traffic eroded it. Hiking Project calls the first pitch down the other side very steep. The trail passes Holly Lake and descends Paintbrush Canyon to String Lake.

The NPS lists shorter variants, including the tram to Granite Canyon via Marion Lake (15 miles, one night), and advises planning about 2 miles an hour plus an hour per 1,000 feet of climbing, and not crossing more than one pass in a day. For the classic one-night loop at the north end, see Paintbrush Canyon and Cascade Canyon; for a national forest approach to the middle section, see Alaska Basin via Teton Canyon.

Tips

Camping

Inside Grand Teton, a backcountry permit is required for every night. Most of the Crest Trail runs through Mountain Camping Zones, where the NPS says you may camp anywhere inside the zone, using previously occupied sites out of sight of trails where possible and 200 feet from lakes and streams. Campfires aren’t allowed in mountain zones. Each permit covers up to six people (groups of 7 to 12 need group sites), with a limit of 2 nights per location.

The NPS says one-third of sites and all group sites can be reserved on Recreation.gov, starting in early January; the rest are first come, first served, in person, no sooner than one day before your start. Pick up permits at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, Colter Bay Visitor Center or Jenny Lake Ranger Station; from Nov. 1 to Apr. 30, permits are issued by phone.

In Alaska Basin you’re on national forest land in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness, where Hiking Project and The Outbound say no permit is needed. The wilderness rules ban camping within 200 feet of a lake or 100 feet of a stream, and ban campfires at Sunset Lake, Alaska Basin, Moose Lake and Fox Creek Pass. Food must be hung (10 feet up, 4 feet out) or stored in a bear-resistant container.

Inside Intel: Backpacker quotes its Northwest editor Michael Lanza on the Death Canyon Shelf: “the perch on Death Canyon Shelf will make you want to homestead right there.” On the forest side, The Outbound calls Sunset Lake “a highly recommended place to camp with stunning views of the basin.”

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Pitching camp on the Death Canyon Shelf:

Hiking Project users report fog and storms rolling over this exposed bench above Death Canyon, so a tent that sheds wind earns its weight. See the tents backpackers rate.

See the picks →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.